Partners

Dublin City University

Dublin City University’s School of Law and Government has a long-standing focus on the politics and sociology of international development, and the politics of EU integration and external action. The School’s Institute of International Conflict Resolution is concerned with resilience in, inter alia, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, while DCU’s Ireland-India Institute has an ambitious agenda to strengthen research collaboration between Ireland and South Asia. The relationships between development, resilience and EU studies, as well as their practical manifestation on the ground in the specific context of South Asia, constitute a logical progression of DCU’s research agenda

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

The University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh’s Center for Sustainable Development is the only research institution in the country whose sole academic remit is the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Bangladesh. CSD supports live research projects investigating women and minority rights in lands and forests, as well as the impact of agrarian change in Bangladesh’s southwest coastal belt on migration. The centrality of land to achievement of the SDGs makes it integral to CSD’s research agenda. CSD also has a commitment to facilitating the greater prominence voices of grassroots communities most affected by poverty and the threat posed by a changing climate in development discussions at national and international policy level.

Wageningen University and Research

Wageningen University’s Sociology of Development and Change group (SDC) focuses on the structures and practices of development and change with a particular scientific interest in inequality, marginalization and political agency. It is a politically engaged and interdisciplinary research and educational centre in development studies, political ecology, anthropology of law and crisis and disaster studies. The issue of land administration, and how it interacts with water management, gender, migration and resilience, is a core thematic area of our work, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia. The proposed project is therefore highly aligned with our research agenda.

Manusher Jonno Foundation

Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) is one of the largest national grant-making organizations in Bangladesh, disbursing funds and capacity building support to promote human rights and governance through partnership with relevant stakeholders, including duty bearers. For 15 years, MJF has worked with strategic land-rights partners to support landless people in establishing their rights over khas (public) land and water-bodies, with a specific focus on women and socially excluded groups. As a result, MJF and its partners have established more than 6000 land rights groups, comprising landless and socially excluded participants representing over 125,000 households. This has so far led to 30,000 of the poorest and most marginalised families in Bangladesh acquiring secure rights over a total of 20,000 acres of public land and water bodies with a total monetary value in excess of 20,000,000,000 Taka, equivalent to roughly $230 million.

Uttaran

Uttaran is an NGO currently working in 14 districts through a network of 48 offices, with a very strong field presence throughout southwest Bangladesh. Through its Rights and Social Justice program, Uttaran supports some of the most marginalised and socially excluded people in Bangladesh in recovering khas land from illegal occupants, and is currently an active partner of GoB in facilitating the khas land transfer process locally. Uttaran is currently implementing two land rights projects funded by MJF and Shiree / EEP-DfID, and is leading the “Shanjog” network of 41 NGOs operating in the southwest. Between 2012 and 2017, Uttaran led the EU-funded “Sustainable Access to Land Equality” project in Jamalpur, Mohanpur and Amtali upazilas.

Caritas Bangladesh

Caritas Bangladesh began work in the country in 1967, and has had a specific focus on both gender empowerment and Indigenous Peoples since 1990. Caritas Mymensingh has been extensively engaged on land rights work in recent years, including khas land allocation, Vested Property settlement, legal aid and supporting local communities to engage with GoB. Land rights work has included a number of innovative approaches, including participatory digital mapping of Indigenous Peoples’ ancestral land.

Center for Sustainable Development

CSD is the only research institute in Bangladesh dedicated solely on the Sustainable Development dilemma: how can the human development needs of all people be realised in a world of finite resources facing enormous environmental challenges, from the collapse of biodiversity to climate change?

CSD holds a unique place within the wider University. As well as contributing to the core ULAB strengths of teaching and research, with an emphasis on a Liberal Arts education, institutionally we are solely responsible for curating one of ULAB’s guiding principles: that of sustainable development.

Erasmus+ Programme of European Union

Bonhishikha - unlearn gender is a feminist organisation committed to ensuring equality and justice across all spectrums in Bangladesh. They work to facilitate safe spaces to advocate for gender and sexuality rights to promote uniform access to opportunities for all diverse gender identities. They produce counter narratives of diverse experiences through storytelling with the intention of raising awareness on gender-based discriminations. Bonhishikha’s core areas of work include:

Consultancies and research
Long-term programmes
Awareness raising events and materials
Training, workshop, and engagements